The closer you get to the region that the ancient Maya lived in the clearer the end time prophecies become. In the South of Mexico and Guatemala, the “end of the world” predictions are rightfully called bullshit. If you go there and talk to the Maya or the Meso-American archaeologists, they will tell you that the world is not going to end, that all the prophecy means is that one age on the Maya timeline is ending and a new one is set to begin, that the date December 21, 2012 signifies a rather unique galactic alignment, and it’s absolutely amazing that the ancient Maya were able to so accurately measure cosmic cycles. They will also probably tell you that the whole end of the world fiasco was started first by individuals who misconstrued archaeological findings which were then amplified by zealots who want to believe that the end times are upon us.

But if you move farther away from the source the more opaque the resolution on the Maya prophecy become. In Mexico City hippies are preparing for end of the world parties; in the the USA, the religious right are using them as evidence for impending Armageddon; in Europe, I’ve heard many otherwise logical and for the most part atheistic people speaking in support of the end time theory; and in Siberia, a man has refused to pay his traffic ticket because he doesn’t see the point in doing so, as the world is going to end in a couple of months anyway.

He is a resident of Kuznetsk Basin, and he owes his town 1,000 roubles (25€) for a traffic violation that happened this summer. He says that his fine is trumped by the fact that the world is going to end in December, and forcing people to pay for their traffic violations at this point is just plain petty.

He also says that the world may not come to an end if people start being nicer to each other — which means not enforcing traffic fines. It’s a clever ruse, as he’s essentially saying, “If you don’t make me pay this traffic ticket there is a better chance the world isn’t going to end.” Who wouldn’t disregard a measly 25€ for the public pot to better these odds?

But the local ministry is not buying this story, even though the man in question is said to have repeatedly brought in charts and other evidence for the Maya end time prophecy to show them, and has given him 15 days to pay his fine or go to jail and have his property seized.

It is still undetermined what this individual is going to do. But if he believes the world is going to end, I don’t think that whatever happens to him is going to matter too much at this point. Come to think of it, a jail cell may not be the worst place to sit out yet another unrequited apocalypse.

Wade Shepard is the founder and editor of Vagabond Journey. He has been traveling the world since 1999, through 88 countries. He is the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China, and contributes to The Guardian, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. Wade Shepard has written 3426 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.

From what I heard someplace, most Chinese people believe that the world will end in December 2012. For fun I asked my students and most believed in it. It’s kind of funny really. For China, I think that movie 2012 did it.

Me? It’s BS. People want something easy to believe in, but they refuse to do the work to really believe in something real and genuine. People are lazy, that’s why so many people like what you are doing and wish they could do the same, but can’t get out there and do it.

The world is out there ready to be explored. As I’m sure you’ll admit to, anybody can do what you’ve done. Ok not write like you(because you have a unique talent), but they can travel like you, live cheaply like you, and earn money independently like you.

Yes, that is very interesting. It seems like people just crave something simulating to talk about or to relate to each other over. Whether it’s the weather or the end of the world we seem to need to stimulate our minds with something. Unfortunately, we often find it far more exciting to force the theories we want to believe rather than seeing them for what the evidence shows they are. I guess living in the end time makes us all feel real important, and is more fun that digging into ancient Maya astronomy to understand the wonders of what they were able to figure out. Now, for me, that’s amazing.

For sure, anybody with a class A passport can do this. When I say anybody, I mean ANYBODY. Well, if they really want to. I once did a project some years ago where I went back to the USA and worked the most menial of jobs to see if I could save up enough money to travel internationally for six months to a year from a few months of working jobs that took absolutely no prior experience or education to do. I did it. It was actually far easier than I thought it would be.

That’s real interesting about Chinese people believing that. This is an interesting place, it seems as if a lot of people here really WANT to believe in something. I think it’s only a matter of a couple of years before religious conversion becomes rampant.

Yeah! Religious sentiment is a natural part of the human experience (some say we are spiritual beings having a human experience, not the other way around (de Chardin)). I saw many atheists venerating Stalin and Lenin in way that’s kind of religious in terms of devotion.

Yea I was kind of hoping that, you know, people would start being nicer to each other. The whole “end” thing didn’t really occur to me. Someone handed me a book 2012 by Daniel Pinchbeck which discussed various strange experiences and people who were into this stuff and on the whole it seemed as normal as Alice in wonderland: he was normal, most were whacked. The idea was transformation. I guess the question which remains is how this transformation spans time. Obviously it didn’t come overnight. But hopefully the gears of the mechanical corporate world become rusty enough for people to notice and maybe get an outlook. Hm. I guess we will see.

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About Wade Shepard

I’m an itinerant writer who has been traveling the world since 1999, through 88 countries. I wrote Ghost Cities of China, a book which chronicles the two years that I spent in China’s new cities, and have another book about the New Silk Road coming out soon. I’m a regular contributor to Forbes, The Diplomat, and the South China Morning Post, and I have been featured on BBC World, VICE, NPR Morning Edition, CNBC Squawk Box, CBC The Current … This is my personal blog where I share stories from the road that don’t fit in anywhere else. In other words, this is my daily diary, raw and real — it is not edited or even proofread. Subscribe below.